Homily for Wednesday after Ascension (7th Wk of Easter), 27 May 2020, John 17:11b-19
Our first reading today is a continuation of what was read yesterday, Paul’s goodbye speech to the leaders of Ephesus at the island of Miletus before he boards a ship. In his speech, St. Luke tells us that Paul is sharing some principles he himself had always followed in his mission, like—never to work only for personal gain, to be mindful of the weak, and to be always reminded of the saying by Jesus that, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)
I have searched the four Gospels to find out where Jesus said what Paul quotes of him and, I couldn’t find it. Is it possible that there were things that Jesus said or did that were not recorded? Well, that is actually stated explicitly by the writer of the fourth Gospel in John chapter 20:30 where he says, “There are many other signs that Jesus did in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.” Maybe we can include sayings too.
The saying that comes close to Acts 20:35 about it being “more blessed to give than to receive,” is Luke 6:38 , that part of Jesus sermon on the plain where he says, “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Meaning, the one who gives more, ends up receiving more. The one who gives less, receives less. Of course they are not the exact words quoted by Paul, but the idea is there.
This saying suddenly reminded me of the two bodies of water in the Holy Land: the Lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Between the two lakes, there is a river that runs from north to south, connecting the Lake of Galilee with the Dead sea. What is the difference between the two?
On the one hand, Galilee is a lake that constantly overflows and gives away its water. It remains fresh, clean, and potable, and is always teeming with fish. On the other hand, the Dead sea is, true to its name, DEAD. It never overflows. Its does nothing but receive the water that overflows from Galilee through the Jordan river. Nothing can live in that lake. It has no fish, no weeds; no living thing can survive in it. It is saturated with salt.
Actually, Galilee also receives. The more it gives, the more it is replenished by the springs around it. The lake that gives is very much alive, while the one that only receives and never gives, is dead.
In the Gospel, Jesus prays for his disciples. He prays that they remain united and that their unity be a reflection of the unity between the Father and the Son. He also says, “I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them…” John tells us Jesus did not just share his joy; he wanted to share it “completely.” He did not just give his words, he gave them everything—his whole self, his very life, his flesh and blood.
And so if there is anything he really wanted us to learn, it is this culture of giving that makes us truly godly. I think what Ignatius really meant in his famous Prayer of Generosity is “Lord teach us to be generous (like you)… by learning to give without counting the cost.” To learn to pour out our lives in utter kenosis (emptying of self). But the emptying becomes just a prelude to a life “full of grace” like that which the angel Gabriel announced to Mary.
I once saw a video that portrayed souls in purgatory like pale and starving souls who have gotten used only to feeding themselves. In the afterlife, they found themselves gathered in a circle around a precipice looking at a bowl of delicious soup hanging in the middle of the pool of fire. Each one had a long spoon so that they could reach the soup. But they coul not reach their own mouths in order to eat the soup because the spoons were too long. The more soup they try to get for themselves, the more hungry they become. They also get even more frustrated and aggressive with each other because they’re very hungry.
Finally, one soul discovers the secret. He spoons the soup and extends it to feed the person before him in the circle. In return the other does the same thing, spoons the soup and give it to him. In due time, they learn to feed one another to the point that their faces begin to change color and they become really alive and ready for heaven.
There is no doubt that before this pandemic happened, we had the tendency to be programmed by society to become more and more individualistic. In a situation of crisis, something wonderful has been happening. We are relearning the culture of giving, of sharing, of caring, of solidarity, of feeding each other, of looking not just after ourselves, but after each other’s welfare.
Don’t you think this crisis had to happen because we were already on the path towards self-destruction? How can the human race survive if people treat each other as enemies? If people look at each other as competitors? If we spend more money on weapons of destruction than education and research and health care?
Remember the African principle of UBUNTU? How a man told a group of African kids that a whole box of candies was waiting for the one who could outrun everybody else and claim his prize? The story goes that the kids held hands and run together towards the box of candies and, on reaching it, divided it equally among themselves! When the kids were asked why nobody wanted to get the candies all for himself, they said, “how can one be happy when others are sad?” The principle they had learned was simple I AM BECAUSE WE ARE.
Perhaps this is the key to the survival of the human race. Through solidarity, we are able to create entities larger than our individual selves; we learn community. We learn to think of each other’s welfare, not just our own. We learn to aspire for the common good as essential to our own personal good.
